(Oslo 24 May 2006) Turnover for Block Watne Gruppen ASA in the first quarter rose by three per cent from the same period of 2005 to NOK 357 million, while operating profit (EBIT) was up 25.1 per cent to NOK 49.7 million. The order backlog for the housebuilding group made better progress in the first quarter compared with the same period of last year.

 

Turnover for Block Watne Gruppen compared with NOK 347 million in the first quarter of 2005. Sales were affected to some extent by a hard winter with very heavy snowfalls at times.

 

Earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose from NOK 39.7 million in the first quarter of 2005. This improvement relates to relatively high turnover for the main activity "Residential project development" and "Property sales with a commitment to construction", and to good cost control.

One-off costs of NOK 0.9 million for the IPO/stock market listing are charged operating expences.

 

Ordinary net financial expenses were down by NOK 0.7 million from the first quarter of last year.

The change in the market value of financial instruments had a positive effect of NOK 2 million, while dividend from associated companies was NOK 0.8 million as against NOK 1.9 million in the first quarter of last year. This yielded net financial expenses of NOK 6.1 million as against NOK 7.7 million in the same period of 2005.

 

Profit before tax (EBT) came to NOK 43.6 million as against NOK 32 million for the same quarter of 2005. This represents an increase of 36.4 per cent.

 

Cash flow from operations in the period was strong, and no noteworthy investment was made during the quarter. The group's liquidity is good.

 

Order intake during the first quarter was NOK 454 million, compared with NOK 403 million in the same period of last year. This represents an increase of 12.6 per cent.

 

Block Watne Gruppen's order backlog at 31 March was NOK 887 million, an increase of NOK 80 million or 9.9 per cent from 31 December 2005. Most of the improvement related to "Residential project development" (10.9 per cent), which accounted for 78.5 per cent of the backlog. Compared with the first quarter of 2005, the order backlog rose by NOK 91 million or 11.4 per cent.

 

At 31 March, the company had 120 started but unsold units. That compares with 138 at the same date last year.

 

For more details, see the attached interim report.

Lars Nilsen, president and CEO, Block Watne Gruppen ASA, tel: +47 23 24 60 00

Ketil Kvalvik, chief financial officer, Block Watne Gruppen ASA, tel: +47 23 24 60 42, +47 90 77 13 15

 

Ranked as one of Norway's leading housebuilders, Block Watne embraces the purchase and development of sites for the purpose of construction and sale of dwellings to private buyers.

 

The group has built over 80 000 homes in all, and annually completes more than 1 000 new houses. Over 350 of its 560 employees are skilled carpenters working in specialised teams. Each house is built from scratch using well-proven and cost-effective methods developed over many years.

Block Watne has 21 offices around Norway, with the emphasis on attractive housing developments outside the most densely-populated areas. Block Watne Gruppen's turnover 2005 was almost NOK 1.5 billion, and its operating profit on a pro forma basis came to NOK 210 million.